Dr. Atkins was born July 24, 1904 in Corning, Kansas. He attended school at Kansas State Agricultural College and graduated in 1928. His first job was at the experimental station in San Antonio. In 1930, he was transferred to the State Agricultural Experiment Station northwest of Denton where he worked until 1954 where he was in charge of small grain development. During his time there he developed or co-operated in developing 12 new varieties of small grains. Dr. Atkins finished his doctorate and went on to work as an agronomist for Texas A&M University and continued his research there.

These are his memories of working at the experiment station during the World War II and coming up with solutions to insect damage and disease in small grain crops. 

For those interested in reading more about his life and work, you can find the following books at the Denton Public Library written by him.